Euskal Oiloa Chicken Forum

A place to find out more and share what you know about this awesome rare poultry breed! **NOTE: Those who wish to register as a new member on the forum are asked to email eochickenforum@gmail.com and an Administrator will gladly help you join the forum!

Adverts

Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

Hi! I don't have a flock yet. Came across this fascinating breed while surfing for Barnevelders in a search egine. It took me to Skyline Poultry and from there to here. What a neat breed. I love the plumage coloring. Right now I have 2 Black-Tailed Buff Marans pullets. I am trying to decide if I want to pursue them or now. Imagine my surprise when I saw the Euskal Oiloa! Such pretty birds and reminiscent of the BTB coloring I've been studying. BTW, how do you pronounce the name? Can't wait to see more pics! These birds sound like they would do well in western PA. We are in climate zone 6A. It gets to about zero Farenheit here in the winter, but windchill gets down to minus 17 Farenheit in the deep winter of early Jan. I keep covered poultry runs for the birds.Good to be here! Karen Tewart

Last edited by 3riverschick (2011-08-18 03:52:05)

Karen Tewart"The present is best served when we remember the past."

Offline

2011-08-11 07:02:47

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

This forum is still very young but there is a lot of information here already. The Adim has done a great job to load us up with information on the Euskal Oiloa. I only have a few but will be looking for hatching eggs in the spring. Our winters get very cold as well. We keep our chickens in an unheated barn. If it's too cold, we close up the access to outside. We have to do this several times over the winter months.

“Expecting life to treat you well just because you’re a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge you because you’re a vegetarian.” Unknown

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

Welcome 3riverschick. I keep my EO's in an uninsulated barn and last winter they were let out of their grainery coop most days into the whole upstairs of my old bank barn same temperature as outside. Our temperature and windchill is similar to yours. My rooster lost the tips on a couple of points on his comb but you can hardly notice it. I did notice in the heat of this summer when all my other breeds slowed right down the EO's kept laying eggs.

Herd of Brown Swiss, a few sheep, red cuckoo basque, Silverspangled Appenzeller Spitzhauben, ameraucanas(EE), Welsummer, broodie silkies and a few more heritage hens

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

Welcome Karen! It is great to have new members that are interested in this awesome breed.

I don't think we even have black tailed buff marans here in Canada, I bet they are lovely, you'll have to post pictures. The wheaten marans are here in Canada and pretty and nicely natured like the Euskal Oiloas!

We are zone 5B and they do just fine here, just the odd lost tip if we get too cold once or twice a winter! Gubi is right ours are still laying 3-4 eggs for 4 hens, while the others have quit in the heat we have been having! They lay well in the winter too, quite consistent!

I hope you enjoy the site, ask lots of questions, there are tons of pictures in the show off your flock section!

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

Welcome Karen! Have no fear about zone 6A. We are zone 2B and can hit minus 46 degrees Celcius or so! (Not sure what that is in Fahrenheit). I have heat lamps in my coops and knock on wood, haven't had any frost bite here. We also get very hot in the summer and they do just fine. I think our climate is a testament to how hardy these birds are. They have to be confined for most of November to March and free range during the summer. As for pronunciation, I say YOU-ska Oy-LO-a. Anyway, so glad you could join us!!

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

Wow! So nice to be warmly welcomed! Thanks! At this time in the breeds' history, which things get the most attention? egg production, meat production, plumage, breed type? I know all are important. But often a breed ranks them by importance.Like in Sussex, breed type comes frst. if it doesn't look like a Sussex, it's not a Sussex, regardless of how it produces meat or eggs. In Marans, regardless of how it is shaped, if it doesn't lay a number 4 hue egg, it's not a Marans. How is it with this breed? Is this breed like the Icelandic chicken where color just varies? Do these 5 colors just crop up as a consequence of breeding the Basque chicken gene pool? Or do breeders try to breed to the 5 colors as standardized colors?Thanks! Best Regards, Karen

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

All good questions. I think right now with the numbers so low, we're firstly just trying to get more birds hatched. I would then say colour and type followed by temperament. They all seem to be laying well (6 eggs out of 7 days) with a nice size and brown colour. They all seem to be pretty good sized birds so that doesn't seem to be too big a worry at this point. Just my opinion, but its seems we are all heading that direction. .

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

I am totally not qualified to answer this and hope Lys, our Basque member reads this! I think the colour just varies from what I have seen, it is/was a race, they selected and stabilized the various colours, but they are all in there somewhere! For right now, keeping them in the ballpark (trying not to breed wrong leg colours and clavell combs) while we increase numbers and I have certainly made sure we kept the best temperament though they are all above average anyway for friendly.

On some of the Spanish sites with photos, we do see uniform looking Marradunas but I don't know whether they are all bred like that or whether they are heavily culled that year to give that? Lys has said not to be too harsh for now as the numbers are so low. I would love for us to have more international members that have more experience with them as a breed. I think a great deal of weight needs to be given to vigorous, hardy, good foragers, and productive layers, I think the whole package is part of the allure of these birds, not very helpful or easy to select for, but they are vigorous chickens. I know type is important and hard to evaluate to us fairly new at breeding.

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

I think the breeding goal with the EOs has to be the same as the reason for us to want the EO's. I like them for egg production and also for the reason that the extra cockerels have some meat on them in a decent amount of time. I also like the marraduna colour and of course the friendliness of the breed. At this point we are just trying to avoid major faults when breeding.

Herd of Brown Swiss, a few sheep, red cuckoo basque, Silverspangled Appenzeller Spitzhauben, ameraucanas(EE), Welsummer, broodie silkies and a few more heritage hens

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

In regards to order of selection, this is what I am attempting this year:

(Type=Temperment) > (side sprigs=shank color=feather color etc)

For me type includes size and thus should capture meat production. I have yet to hear of one with poor egg production but I will not use any hens for breeding that are not very good for eggs.

It's tough though because to be honest I want to keep all of them because they are so rare and I know so little about them. Plus rehoming them is like selling a family member and eating them will be worse (accept for a couple of the older Roos that bite, they will taste pretty good I think!)

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

LOLl! I love it PG- you have it worked into a mathematical formula! . I have a feeling we are seeing a future breeder extrodinaire in you. And don't worry, your re homed girls will be much loved here- and then you can come visit them (and me)!

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

Good think I have you and your egg sales Susan! And I can absolutely see myself coming to visit them. It will be sort of like boarding school where their momma still loves them but they need to live far away... Maybe it's a good thing I don't have children?

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

Re: Hi from Karen in western Pennsylvania, USA

I believe at this point in time quantity is first and foremost considering we have very few in North America. I have been very Fortunate to have birds that are very nice looking. Leg coloring has been half and half but other then that Ive got a great flock to start with. I see no problems with a heavy culling program fixing alot of problems. I'll be starting a new blood project late in the year just in case we dont get new blood from overseas anytime soon. better to be safe then sorry. Oh yea I almost forgot,